PITTSBURGH, PA - APRIL 13: Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins (not pictured) scores past Ilya Bryzgalov #30 of the Philadelphia Flyers in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Consol Energy Center on April 13, 2012 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

A key ingredient to a Stanley Cup winning team is superb goaltending. Do the Philadelphia Flyers have that? Honestly, the jury is still out.

Ilya Bryzgalov left something to be desired for most of the Flyers’ series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but it would also be unfair to hold him fully responsible for his 3.89 GA and .871 save percentage in the playoffs. The Penguins have an absurd number of gifted scorers and defense didn’t seem to be the primary focus of either team for the better part of the series.

Still, the Penguins are gone and Bryzgalov did play an important role in that, particularly in Game 6. Now he needs to show he can lead the Flyers through what is likely to be a more conservatively played series where goals will be at a greater premium and each mistake by a goaltender will be more heavily felt.

One thing we’ve seen is that Bryzgalov doesn’t have many equals when he’s playing at his best. If Game 6 was the start of another hot streak, then whichever team ends up facing them in the next round should be very nervous. Conversely, if he remains inconsistent, then Philadelphia will have a hard time making it further than they did in 2010-11.

difference between the best goalie in the NHL and an average goalie?
Best sv%:940 average sv%:.915
Best GAA:1.56 average: 2.50

my point is that goalies stats are usually pumped up by team defense.. .025% difference on save percentage is a joke. compare Rinne/Lundquist/Miller(elite) to Elliot/halak/smith/quick(average). there is almost no differance in the number except what the teams PAY these players. in my opinion Philly chicago and st louis are teams that are doing it the right way(post lockout).they have good defense with average goaltenders. GAA is a better TEAM stat and you will notice that some teams, like my sabres, play $hit defense in front of a great goalie, and it doesnt matter because we didnt make the dance. the last part of my rant: winning stanley cup goalies since lockout:
Ward
Giguere
Osgood
Fleury
Niemi
Thomas

Team Defense is the Key to winning a cup!

phillyphever - Apr 23, 2012 at 7:09 PM

Yeah, I see two potential HOFs on that list (Osgood and Thomas), so that doesn’t help your case. Plus, if it wasn’t for Thomas last year, Boston wouldn’t have won the cup.

I agree with you but in a 7 game series you can bank on the fact that at some point their will be a defensive breakdown, resulting in an odd man rush or even a breakaway. Since most playoff games are so tight, this is where goaltending comes into play. This is where your goalie needs to come up with a big stop to keep you in it. Goaltending is a weird position and I feel like their success rides a lot on the mental aspect of being a goalie. Unfortunately for Bryz and the flyers he seems to be not so mentally tough.

xavier46 - Apr 24, 2012 at 4:31 AM

@bagjr387
“.025% difference on save percentage is a joke”
Well sir, I agree that would be a joke. Except in your example, “Best sv%:940 average sv%:.915″ there is a 2.5% difference. .940=94.0% saves, .915=91.5% saves.

It’s been a while since Ryan Miller was “elite”, no? I understand being a buffalo homer, but dude is no longer elite. He’s even top 10 in the league. In the regular season he had a .916 SV% (good to be T-19 in NHL) and his GAA was 2.54 or 23rd in the NHL.
Elliot – .940% and 1.56 GAA (Both 1st in NHL)
Halak – .926% (6th) and 1.97 (4th)
Smith – .930 (3rd) and 2.21 (7th)
Quick – .929 (5th) and 1.95 (2nd)

Perhaps compounding the problem is that you still think the Sabres have a great goalie.

sgtr0c - Apr 23, 2012 at 7:37 PM

Odd article. Title makes you feel the Flyers only make it as Bryz goes, do or die.
Then you point out that Bryz did well in game 6 and did win against the cup favs with a star lined offense.
Then yesterdays quote from Hartnel.
Then say whoever faces the Flyers might be scared.
Seems like going in a circle.
My thought today was about how many pucks the Flyers blocked, 40, and they did that without Grossman, their leading shot blocker. That should make the next team nervous about the Flyers desire.

Goalie? Who cares about a goalie? Just score 36 goals a series and score your way to a Cup. (disclaimer: this is obviously sarcasm, for those Internet tough guys who inevitably will call me a moron, idiot or some variation.)

I have noticed Bryz will have a good game, maybe two. Then he plays really bad for about 3 or 4. He needs to show up big time if they are going to make it far. In the sharks situation Niemi wasn’t very good during the year but was really good in the playoffs. The blues defense just shut us down and we couldn’t score.

myvickinabox14 - Apr 23, 2012 at 8:04 PM

Vasteelerfan, like MAF? I remember it like it was a couple of days ago…”MAF is getting hot, this is a new series” Why are you still on here. Shouldn’t you be in your troll cave by now. You have no reason to even be talking. You just got whipped by a , “talentless, defenseless, crappy goalie having bunch of nobodies. The refs were against the pens and the pens completely outplayed Philly.” How in the world could you lose that series? Stop trollin bro, it’s over. You lost.

Flyers have good D when they play D. Their 9th defenseman just played Malkin very well in game 6. He also put up just as many goals as one of the leagues best players that game. Philly has a 10th D named Manning who is very promising as well and can eat up time like crazy.

Brzzz can be scary but with good “D” which we are very capable of playin we need him to steal 1 game per series……how many series will we go????? cant say…prolly further than sidney and mallowcup……gotta say they really surprised me how cheap they played…….better not hear any of the Pins cry about cheapshots again….EVER !!!!!